Gurugram: Developer, engineers booked in 2nd FIR over flats collapse

The Gurugram Police on Sunday registered a second first information report in the shocking house collapse at the Chintels Paradiso condominium that resulted in the death of two residents.

The case was registered under section 10 of Haryana Development and Regulation of Urban Areas Act, 1975 and sections 120 B (conspiracy), 417 , 420 (cheating), 465 (punishment for forgery), 467 (forgery), 468 (forging document) and 471 (using forged document) of the Indian Penal Code at the Bajghera police station on the complaint by R S Bhath, district town planner, enforcement.

KK Rao, Gurugram police commissioner, confirmed the registration of the case, and said that besides all the directors of Chintels India Limited, Ashok Solomon, chairman of the Chintels India Ltd, the structure engineer, architect and the contractor have been named in the FIR.

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The first FIR in the case was filed on Thursdayon a complaint by the husband of one of the victims of the tragedy. Ceiling slabs of a portion of six flats collapsed on Thursday night, trapping residents. Two people died in the incident, and others were rescued after hours-long efforts by disaster response teams.

“We have registered a case against seven people– chairman of Chintels Paradiso, architects, a civil engineer, the contractor, and the persons involved in alterations on the sixth floor of the condominium that apparently led to the collapse,” said Rao adding that no arrests have been made so far.

Rao said teams will soon conduct raids and arrest the people named in the FIR.

In a detailed report into the incident submitted to the police on Sunday, district town planner Bhath said that the licensee applied through vice president of Chintels India Ltd for grant of occupation on October 21, 2015, including Tower 4 on the prescribed form which was signed by “an M.Tech structure engineer from IIT Delhi”. HT has a copy of the report.

“The mishap has proved that the certificate of structure engineer and proof consultant, and the work by the contractor are not credit worthy and rather fraudulent. As per provisions of Haryana Scheduled Roads and Controlled Areas, restriction of unregulated development Act no 41 of 1963 and Haryana development and regulation of urban area Act 8 of 1975 and rules framed thereunder, the licensee, the structure engineer and the contractors are solely responsible for the unfortunate incident,” the report said.

According to the report, the structure engineer has issued the stability certificate and assured that the work has been completed in accordance with the sanctioned building plans, and the structural design as checked and certified by the proof consultant. “The workmanship and all the material used for construction meet the specifications laid down in the national building code,” the structure engineer said, according to Bhath’s report.

Further, the tehsildar of Gurugram has been directed not to register any sale deed of the developer until final decision in the current matter is taken, said Bhath in the report.

Also Read | Gurugram: Portions of wall, ceiling collapse in another society in Sector 109

The developer did not respond to queries on Sunday. However, in a statement on Saturday, Chintels said, “As per our records submitted by the contractor, the best of materials from well-known players have been used for the project, details of which have also been shared with the investigating authorities. We ourselves will take up the matter very seriously so that not just us but other developers and buyers do not face a similar situation in future.”

Meanwhile, rescue workers were finally able to remove the body of Sunita Shrivastava, who was buried in the rubble inside her first floor flat, late Saturday night -- 54 hours after the incident, said officials. Her body though visible from outside was trapped in the debris. Rescue workers had to create a passage as heavy duty machines and gas cutters were engaged in removing debris and collapsed walls around her body. Kuleesh Anand, deputy commandant of NDRF, who led the rescue operation, said there were rumours that there was another collapse in the building during the rescue operation, but while setting up load bearing structures and removing walls around the woman’s body, debris kept falling overhead. “It took almost 54 hours to complete the operation where two bodies were recovered and two person were rescued,” he said. The body of the first victim was removed on Thursday night only.

Sunita’s family members said on Sunday that they were informed about the mishap ten minutes after it occurred on Thursday. Neeraj Sinha, Sunita’s brother who lives in Patna, Bihar, said, “My second sister had just arrived from the US the same evening when the collapse happened. She survived as she was in the bedroom near the balcony. My sister and her husband were in the dining room and were trapped underneath the rubble. We were hoping that she would survive. Sujata was keeping us posted about the rescue operations,” said Sinha adding that the rescue teams were giving updates to the family members after short intervals.

Sunita’s husband Arun Srivastava (60) is undergoing treatment at a private hospital in Sushant Lok.

Officials have confirmed only two deaths in the incident so far, but did not deny that there could be more casualties. Of the six affected floors, four were unoccupied when the portion of the building caved in.